Have not sailed one, but I have a similar board, a Starboard windsup 10'X 34". It was is super easy to sail and paddle, and I am sure that the Bic you are looking at will be equally easy and fun.

Bic makes a great product, having owned a few in the past. They are well made, durable, affordable, and perform well. That board should serve you well, and will make learning to paddle and sail a quick, easy and fun process.

Don't expect to be able to windsurf this board in a lot of wind. You would need a board with footstraps. Since you will be mostly paddleing I think it's an excellent choice.

I disagree with slinky. I have sailed my Bic Wind SUP in 15-20 mph, and got it planing. Due to the length and weight of the board and the grip of the surface, you don't need footstraps in these conditions. I have also seen a light weight woman plane very nicely on a Fanatic SUP with a 4.2 at Kalmus just last week. Wind averages were around 25 mph. I was nicely powered on 5.5 / 96 l, and Kalmus is well known for a lot of chop. No straps on the board, either.

Whether you would want to sail the SUP in strong winds, or rather switch to a smaller board, is a different question. I would pick a smaller board, as would most windsurfers I know - but not everyone. You definitely could use the board in higher winds to get a feel for windsurfing in strong winds, though.

Don't expect to be able to windsurf this board in a lot of wind. You would need a board with footstraps. Since you will be mostly paddleing I think it's an excellent choice.

Don't let the presence of footsrtaps fool ya. I've got the Bic Jungle and why they ever put footstraps on that thing is beyond me. It is NOT a planing hull. I've been fully powered on it and just plowed water. It looks like they've done away with that model after a few years and have taken the footstraps off their replacement models. It's not bad as a SUP but definitely not anything that deserves footstraps. I use a RRD LongRider now as a SUP/Windsurf board that as a planing hull that would take you a step farther in your windsurfing experience. There are a lot of boards that will do that. I'm sure you'll get plenty of feedback on this.
Have fun!_________________The Time a Person Spends Windsurfing is not Deducted from their Lifespan...
http://www.openocean.com

I've got the Bic Jungle and why they ever put footstraps on that thing is beyond me. It is NOT a planing hull.

That's the previous generation board. The newer Bic WindSUP does plane, even with the smallish stock fin. The Bic videos show that, and I have planed on my 10.6 Bic WindSUP.

The question of whether you'd want to use the Bic WindSUP rather than on a short board applies to all longboards. I have planed on the Exocet WindSUP, Kona, and Fanatic MegaCat, and I'd prefer a short board to any of them because it's more fun. But many of the longer boards make it easier to approach planing because they have many gears, going faster the further back you step on the board. That is definitely true for Bic WindSUP 10.6. This can make learning to go faster a lot easier than a short board that lacks the intermediate speeds.

Don't let the presence of footsrtaps fool ya. I've got the Bic Jungle and why they ever put footstraps on that thing is beyond me. It is NOT a planing hull. I've been fully powered on it and just plowed water. It looks like they've done away with that model after a few years and have taken the footstraps off their replacement models. It's not bad as a SUP but definitely not anything that deserves footstraps. I use a RRD LongRider now as a SUP/Windsurf board that as a planing hull that would take you a step farther in your windsurfing experience. There are a lot of boards that will do that. I'm sure you'll get plenty of feedback on this.
Have fun!

Thank Poseidon I'm not the only one! I have one and I can confirm:
The Bic Jungle Wind (older models) will NOT plane, ever (.)
And the foot straps? Whoever decided to put them in the position they were placed at should be smacked. They're worthless other than to help you carry the board + rig.

The board is great for super light onshore wind and tiny mushy waves, I'll give it that. Not extremely fun but it does work. And I've caught more waves than the proners and the beach sitting kiters in such conditions. But that's it.

I've SUP'ed it through quite a few miles as well. It works nice but it's not a touring SUP. It's better suited for waves. It's heavy and pretty porky.

Because of its size and shape and having a daggerboard, the Bic 11'6" should be a good choice for easy flatwater SUP, beginner windsurfing, and general non-planing windsurfing. You'll probably be very happy with it.

The only reason you might want to think twice is the rocker and the lack of footstraps, which could make it tough to get into high-speed planing mode.

If you're aspiring to eventually get into the high-performance kind of windsurfing then you might want to get a step-tail windsup like the Exocet 11'8" that is more optimized for planing. Or you could go for the Bic for now, but buy a shortboard windsurf as a second board sometime in the future when you want to work on planing skills.

I think you would be hard pressed to find a better value and functioning board for a beginner interested in both standup and sailing.
Bics in general are durable, light and functional and always priced well vs other brands. I have the Bic 10'6 wind
and would recommend the 11'6 for a beginner because of the dagger board.
The Exocet 11' 8 Windsup is also a great choice, also a board that I own, it paddles well and is an awesome windsurfing board for a beginner and also performs well for more advanced riders.
The only negative vs the Bic would be the higher price and less durability to surface (cosmetic) dings and scratches.

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